Nut-lock.



P. E. MILLER, B. H. SICKAFOOSE & E. 1. SMITH.

NUT LOCK.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 19, 1916. 1,235,881. Patented Au 7, 1917.-

M BY WM M.

WITNESSES ATTOR N EY PETER E. MILLER, OF MINERAL CITY, AND BENJAMIN H. SIGKAFOOSE AND EMLYN J.

' SMITH, OF CANTON, OHIO.

NUT-LOCK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented A11 '7, 1917.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, PETER E. MILLER, BENJAMIN H. Srormroosn, and EMLYN J. SMrrrr, citizens of the United States, and residents, respectively, of Mineral City, in the county of Tuscarawas and State of Ohio, of Canton, in the county of Stark, State of Ohio, and of Canton, in the county of Stark, State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Nut-Locks, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in nut locks and more particularly to an improved device for locking the bolts and nuts employed for fastening the meeting ends of railway rails.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a locking member associated with the fish plate generally employed for fastening the meeting ends of railway rails, the locking plate having means for cooperating with the various nuts on the fastening bolts for locking the ends against accidental displacement.

A further object of the invention is to provide a locking bolt having means whereby the locking plate will be prevented from being accidentally displaced from its position on the fish plate thus preventing displacement of the locking means which engage the nuts on the fastening bolts.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a nut lock which consists of comparatively few parts and is simple in construction, but durable and well adapted to withstand the rough usage to which devices of this character are ordinarily sub-' j ected.

For a full description of the invention and the advantages and merits thereof, reference is to be had to the following description and the accompanying drawings, wherein is illustrated the preferred form of our invention, in which;

Figure 1 is a side elevation showlng our invention applied to the meeting ends of two railway rails.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal transverse section on the line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail perspective of one end of the locking plate.

F ig. 5 is a side elevation of a slightly modified form of the invention.

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 66 of Fig. 5.

Referring to the drawing, wherein is illustrated the preferred form of our invention, and in which like numerals of reference in-i dicate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the two rail ends A and B are placed in alinement in the usual manner and are provided on opposite sides of the rail webs with the fish plates 1 and 2. Fastening bolts 3 are extended through openings in the web and the fish plates and the screw threaded ends of the bolts are provided with nuts 4:.

Slidably mounted on the fish plate 1, or rather upon the fish plate with which the nuts engage, is a locking plate 5. This plate 5 is provided with a plurality of rectangular openings 6 formed by slitting the plate and outwardly placing the material displaced by the formation of the openings. The locking plates are formed from malleable iron or other suitable material that may be worked in the above described manner. This manner of forming the opening 6 provides laterally projecting flanges 7 and 8 projecting from the upper and lower edges of the opening. These openings 6 should be of a width equal to the width of the nut-s 4: so that when the plate 5 is in applied position the flanges 7 and 8 will engage the opposite side faces of the nuts thereby preventing the rotation of the nuts. The length of each opening is sufiicient to permit each nut to easily pass through its respective opening so that the plate may be mounted in applied position.

As clearly shown by Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawing, each nut 4 is provided with a notch extending across one side and this notch receives one vertical edge of one of the open ings 6. The nut thereby acts as a retaining member for preventing lateral movement of the locking plate.

Extending from one end of the locking plate 5 is a pair of lugs 9 having vertically alined openings for receiving the pintles 10 of a locking latch 11. This locking latch is formed from a piece of heavy steel wire bent intermediate its ends to form the U-shaped locking portion adapted to be moved into engagement with the adjacent nut. The

pint-les 10 are provided at their terminals with right angularly extending fingers 12 which may be turned for moving the latch portion into and out of engagement with the adjacent nut.

WVhen the bolt 5 is mounted in operative position, the same may be slid longitudinally until the edges of the openings 6 are disposed in the notches in the nuts. The latch member will then be swung to the position shown by Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawing and the plate will then be prevented from moving longitudinally and the flanges 7 and 8 will prevent rotation of the nuts;

In Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawing, is illustrated the manner of employing the locking plate 5 with the use of the rectangular openings 13 which are constructed without the formation of the flanges described in the above device. In this instance the slots are merely made long enough to permit the nuts to be extended through the slots after which the latch member 11 may be turned through the medium of the finger'12 for engagement with the adjacent nut. In this form, it is intended to have the latch member exert a stronger tensioning action when the latch is pressed into engagement with the nut so that rotation of the nut will be prevented and the binding action of the opening on the corresponding nuts will prevent the displacement of the locking plate.

WVe claim:

1. A nut locking device comprising, in combination with the meeting ends of two railway rails having fish plates mounted upon each side of the rail webs and provided with transversely extending bolts and nuts, a locking plate mounted upon one of the fish plates on the side upon which the nuts are engaged, superposed flanges engageable with the sides of the nut for preventing the rotation thereof, and manually operated ing sliding movement of the said flangesv from the nut.

2. A nut locking device comprising, inv combination with the meeting ends of two railway rails having fish plates mounted upon each side of the rail webs and provided with transversely extending bolts and nuts, a locking plate, flanges formed from right angularly bent portions or" the said plate engageable with the sides of the nuts, and means pivot-ally associated with the locking plate and adapted to cooperate with the adjacent nut for preventing lateral dis-' placement of the plate.

3. A nut locking device comprising, in combination with the meeting ends of two railway rails having fish plates mounted upon each side of the rail webs and provided with transversely extending bolts and nuts, a locking plate, a plurality of longitudinally spaced openings formcdin the plate for'receiving the nuts, the upper and lower edges of the openings having right angularly extending flanges engageable with the sides of the nuts, one of the vertical sides of each nut having a notch formed therein for receiving one of the vertical edges of each opening, and means for preventing longitudinal sliding movement of the plate.

4:. A nut locking device comprising, in combination with the meeting ends of two railway rails having fish plates mounted upon each side of the rail webs and provided with transversely extending bolts and nuts, a locking plate, a plurality of longitudinally spaced openings formed in the plate for receiving the nuts, the upper and lower edges of the, openings having right angularly extending flanges engageable with the sides of the nuts, one of the vertical sides of each nut having a notch formed therein for receiving one of the vertical edges-of each opening, a locking latch pi'votally carried by. the locking plate and provided with a locking portion engageable with one of the sidefaces of one of the nuts for preventing sliding movement ofthe flanges on the nuts and to retain the said vertical edges in their positions in the said notches.

5. A nut locking device comprising, in combination with the meeting ends of two railway rails having fish plates mounted upon each side of the rail webs and provided with transversely extending bolts and nuts, a locking plate, a plurality of openings formed in the plate for receiving the said nuts, one of the vertical side faces of each nut having a' notch for receiving one of the vertical edges of each corresponding opening, and a locking latch carried by the lock- 1ng plate and engageable with one of the "nuts for preventing longitudinal movement slot the late the said 10 k' l t h b means assoclated with the locking plate and p 0 mo a 8mg engageable with one of the nuts for prevent-.

laterally movable to swing out of and into engagement with the side of the adjacent nut.

6. nut locking device comprising, in combinatlon with the meeting ends of two railway rails having fish plates mounted upon each side of the rail webs and provided with transversely extending bolts and nuts, a locking plate, a plurality of openings formed in the plate for receivingthe said nuts, one of the vertical side faces of each nut having a notch for receiving one of the vertical edges of each corresponding opening, a locking latch carried by the locking plate and engageable with one of the nuts for preventing longitudinal movement of the plate, and flanges engageable with the horizontal sides of the said nuts for :preventing vertical movement of the said plate.

7. A nut locking device comprising, in combination with the meeting ends of two railway rails having transversely extending bolts and nuts, a locking plate provided with flanges engageable with the sides of the nuts, the end of the plate having lugs provided with openings, a locking latch pivotally mounted in the said openings and adapted to be manually moved into engagement with one of the said nuts.

8. A nut locking device comprising, in combination with the meeting ends of two railway rails having transversely extending bolts and nuts, a locking plate provided with flanges engageable with the sides of the nuts, the end of the plate having lugs provided with openings, a locking latch pivotally mounted in the said openings and adapted to be manually moved into engagement with one of the said nuts, the said locking latch including a locking portion engageable with the nut, and fingers formed on the terminals of the latch whereby the 20 said latch may be actuated.

In testimony whereof, we aifix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

PETER E. MILLER. Witnesses:

D. O. VAN KIRK, C. J. MENINGER.

BENJAMIN H. SICKAFOOSE. EMLYN J. SMITH. Witnesses:

HARRY NUsBAUM, WILLIAM I. ZINK.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

